DIONYSOS:
Pluto, you should know something. I don't want to just meet Shaw --
I want to take him back to earth with me.
You see, the world is in such a mess.
And I just think that if Shaw were to write again,
he could show us the truth about ourselves and how we live.
PLUTO:
Really? I admire your idealism, even though it's incredibly na?ve.
DIONYSOS:
Better na?ve than blind or dead.
PLUTO:
This isn't a good place to speak ill of the dead.
CHORUS:
[Solo voices, singing]
Good fellow...
Good man, Dionysos.
Don't worry.
Relax.
He'll do it for you.
Besides...
No cause for alarm.
ALL:
It's only a play.
DIONYSOS:
Look, I'm no hero. I made my way here through a river of frogs. It wasn't easy.
They tried to stop me. The frogs like things the way they are.
"Earth is well enough," they say. "Let well enough alone."
And I'm afraid more and more people are beginning to think the same way.
CHORUS:
[Solo voices, singing]
It really doesn't matter.
Don't worry, relax.
What can one person do?
After all, you're only human.
And it's all been said before,
And you've got enough to think about.
Besides...
ALL:
It's only a play.
CHORUS:
[Solo voices, singing]
And there's time,
There's plenty of time --
There always is time.
You've got all the time in the world.
You know, time has a way of healing all things.
Things fix themselves.
Don't worry, relax.
Why not wait and see what happens?
ALL:
It's only a play.
DIONYSOS:
Our leaders won't tell us the truth -- not the whole truth --
just half-truths and big fat lies told to supposedly protect us.
PLUTO:
Forgive me, but I think the truth is terribly overrated.
DIONYSOS:
Not if you're the one being lied to.
And if we start to question things -- merely question -- we're accused of being disloyal.
Well, I've had enough.
Basically we have two kinds of leaders -- ineffectual and corrupt.
PLUTO:
Funny, isn't it? How we always seem to get the leaders we deserve.
CHORUS:
[Solos and duets, singing]
Let the leaders raise your voices for you.
Let the critics make your choices for you.
Somewhere somebody rejoices for you:
The dead.
And a leader's useful to curse,
And the state of things could be worse.
And besides...
ALL:
It's only a play.
DIONYSOS:
The great god Chaos, father of darkness, once ruled the earth.
He was overthrown. But he could return.
PLUTO:
The question is -- what if he already has?
CHORUS:
Well, words are merely chatter,
And easy to say.
It doesn't really matter,
It's only a play.
It's only so much natter
That somebody wrote.
And the world's still afloat,
So it's hardly a note
For today.
Anyway...
The earth's a little fatter,
But still pretty green.
And life's a little flatter,
But what does that mean?
It really doesn't matter
What somebody writes.
You can turn off the lights
And on alternate nights,
You can pray.
Don't worry.
Relax.
On with the play.